Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to double the level of resources available for the treatment of alcohol abuse, as referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland .

Mr Tom McCabe: The Partnership Agreement commits the Executive to review the scale of alcohol problems and the cost of its consequences. Decisions on the level of future resources for alcohol problems support and treatment services will be made on completion of this review and following submission of outstanding financial information from local Alcohol Action Teams.

Care Commission

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines are in place on the preparation, form and publication of Care Commission reports.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the Care Commission report on Glenview Young People's Unit Galashiels, dated 29 May 2003, differs from the commission's report dated 3 March 2003.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures the Care Commission follows when it has made an inspection of a young people's residential unit.

Mr Tom McCabe: The inspection process including the preparation, form and publication of inspection reports and any associated guidelines are an operational matter for the Care Commission.

  An individual may raise any concerns they have over the operation of a care service or with the way the Care Commission has conducted any part of the regulatory process through the Care Commission's complaints procedure. Details can be found on its website at:

  www.carecommission.com.

Care Commission

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had sight of the Care Commission's inspection report on Glenview Young People's Unit, Galashiels.

Mr Tom McCabe: Yes. The Care Commission has a statutory duty to make inspection reports on registered care services available to the public and as such we have asked for and received a copy.

Care Commission

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the conditions for staff and young people at Glenview Young People's Unit, Galashiels, in light of recent inspection reports.

Euan Robson: This report was produced by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (the Care Commission) which became the independent regulator of care homes, including those for children, from 1 April 2002. The Care Commission regulates services by inspecting them against associated legislation and the relevant national care standards. It will be for the Care Commission to work with Borders Council to ensure the issues raised in their report are addressed. The Care Commission has powers should they be unsatisfied with the action taken.

Care Commission

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Borders Council has at any time expressed any concerns, or made any representations, concerning Glenview Young People's Unit, Galashiels.

Euan Robson: We have received no such representations from Scottish Border's Council about its own facility.

Care of Elderly People

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are in place for the funding of (a) free personal care for patients registered with cross-border practices where the practice and the majority of patients are located in Scotland and (b) drugs for patients who live in England but are registered with a Scottish practice.

Mr Tom McCabe: (a) The concept of free personal and nursing care only applies to those who would normally pay for, or towards, such care in community settings. After a care needs assessment by the social work department in the area where the person lives, eligible people assessed as requiring personal care at home are not charged for that care. A payment of either £145 or £210 is provided towards the care costs of eligible people living in a care home. The medical practice where a person is registered has no relevance here, and

  (b) Unified budget allocations, which include prescribing costs, take into account the number of patients registered with GP practices in the area of the health board concerned, irrespective of the patient's country of residence.

Community Planning

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organisations can participate in the community planning process.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Equal opportunities runs through community planning. Under the community planning legislation (section 59 of the Local Government in Scotland Act), Scottish ministers, local authorities and all other bodies participating in community planning should do so in a manner which encourages equal opportunities and the observance of equal opportunities.

  The statutory community planning guidance highlights this duty and the importance of mainstreaming equal opportunities in community planning. Detailed guidance on how to mainstream equalities is being prepared by the Scottish Equalities Co-ordinating Group. The guidance specifically suggests that community planning partnerships consult and co-operate with equalities groups, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organisations.

Courts

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Sentencing Information System became operational within the Scottish Court Service.

Cathy Jamieson: While a number of judges had access to the software during the development stage, the final operational version of the system was delivered to the High Court of Justiciary at the end of September 2002. All High Court judges have had access to the system from that date.

Courts

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors the effectiveness of the Sentencing Information System within the Scottish Court Service.

Cathy Jamieson: The Sentencing Information System was developed as a tool for the High Court of Justiciary. Monitoring the use and effectiveness of the system is a matter for the court.

Courts

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to judges on the use of the Sentencing Information System within the Scottish Court Service.

Cathy Jamieson: No guidance has been issued to judges on the use of the Sentencing Information System.

  The system is a tool to assist judges by providing information on the range of sentences passed by the court in previous cases in an accessible format. It is an aid to the exercise of judicial discretion.

  The determination of the sentence is entirely a matter for the judge.

Courts

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many judges have undergone training in the use of the Sentencing Information System within the Scottish Court Service.

Cathy Jamieson: While some judges have undertaken training in the use of the Sentencing Information System, all judges are able to access the information in the system whether or not they have personally undertaken training in its use, as they have the option to ask their clerk to obtain information from the system on their behalf. All clerks of court in the High Court of Justiciary have been trained in the use of the system.

Courts

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-776 and S1W-30468 by Cathy Jamieson on 23 June 2003 and Mr Jim Wallace on 10 October 2002, what the reasons are for delay in issuing the consultation paper on the future of Peebles Sheriff Court following the feasibility study on the refurbishment being issued to interested parties.

Cathy Jamieson: It would not have been appropriate to issue a consultation paper on the closure of Peebles Sheriff Court and the transfer of business to another court, while discussions were continuing on the potential to deliver court services from another building in Peebles.

  The detailed discussions between the Scottish Court Service and the Scottish Borders Council on the use of council buildings at Rosetta Road for court hearings has resulted in an outline agreement which will be submitted to elected members for their approval.

  If the council's approval is given it will no longer be necessary to transfer the court business from Peebles and the consultation process previously envisaged would no longer be required. However, it would remain the intention of the Scottish Court Service to involve local interested parties in discussion on the delivery of court services from the Rosetta Road building.

Courts

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28903 by Mr Jim Wallace on 18 September 2002, why the process of review of Sheriff Court facilities in Peebles has not been completed; when it will be completed, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Court Service has been involved in detailed discussions with the Scottish Borders Council on the use of the council premises at Rosetta Road, Peebles, for court hearings. Consideration had to be given on how best to accommodate the needs of the court within an important historic building, as well as the wider implications for the delivery of council services in Peebles. Outline agreement has now been reached between officials on a way forward. Should this agreement receive the approval of the council's elected members, the necessary planning consents will be sought and works instructed with the intention of returning hearings of the Sheriff Court and District Court to Peebles at an early stage.

Courts

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received representations from Lothian and Borders Police regarding the funding of any development of a joint courthouse and police station in Peebles.

Cathy Jamieson: Lothian and Borders Police were in contact with the Executive in 2002 about the possibility of exceptional additional funding for a joint proposal.

Courts

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to questions S1W-28460 and S1W-28894 by Mr Jim Wallace on 11 September 2002, whether it will consider funding the building of a joint courthouse and police station in Peebles in light of the current police stations not complying with the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Cathy Jamieson: Responsibility for such a development lies with the Scottish Borders Council, the Scottish Court Service and Lothian and Borders Police, each of which has a capital budget to deploy in accordance with its own priorities.

Courts

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Sheriff Principal of Lothian and Borders regarding the provision of court services in Peebles and the time taken to resolve the situation.

Cathy Jamieson: None. However, the Scottish Court Service, which has operational responsibility for courthouses, has kept the Sheriff Principal of Lothian and Borders fully advised of its discussions with the Scottish Borders Council on providing court services from an alternative location in Peebles and the reasons for the delay in concluding these.

Dentistry

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what statutory duties NHS boards have to provide NHS dental services.

Mr Tom McCabe: Section 25 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 places a duty on NHS boards to make, as respects their area, arrangements with dental practitioners under which any person for whom a dental practitioner undertakes in accordance with the arrangements to provide dental treatment and appliances shall receive such treatment and appliances.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Scottish Collegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) publications were issued within the NHS in each of the last four financial years; how many print runs were carried out for such publications; what the cost of these publications was in each of the last four financial years; whether any costings are made of the professional time involved in producing such publications; who receives SIGN publications, and how their effectiveness is monitored.

Malcolm Chisholm: SIGN Guidelines Published

  

  
 SIGN 
  Budget


 1999-2000
 5
 £457,000


 2000-01
 7
 £656,000


 2001-02
 7
 £817,000


 2002-03
 11
 £830,000



  For the majority of these guidelines only one print run is carried out. If there is strong interest in a guideline an additional print run is undertaken.

  SIGN budgets for each of the last four years are shown above. The cost of involving self-employed practitioners (general medical and dental practitioners) and practice nurses are met by the SIGN budget. The costs associated with NHSScotland employees are currently met by their employing NHS boards.

  SIGN guidelines and quick reference guides are distributed free of charge to NHSScotland employees. In addition, all SIGN guidelines are available to download free of charge from their website (www.sign.ac.uk).

  The effectiveness of SIGN guidelines is generally monitored through clinical audit at local level. A report on the implementation of SIGN guidelines was published by Clinical Recourse and Audit Group (CRAG) in 2002 (available from http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/crag/).

Justice

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what proportion of, drink-driving cases reported to procurators fiscal have been prosecuted.

Mrs Elish Angiolini: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34889 on 31 March 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search ..

  This answer provided figures for cases of drink-driving for the year April 2001 to March 2002, but it did not include figures relating to the Glasgow area due to upgrading work to the computer system within the Glasgow office. Updated figures have now been obtained, which include data from Glasgow. In the year April 2001 to March 2002, a total of 10,796 charges were reported to the procurator fiscal in Glasgow and 97.4% were prosecuted. A decision not to prosecute was taken in only 1.7% of cases.

  The balance of 0.9% is accounted for by cases which were transferred to another court jurisdiction or where the procurator fiscal was able to include the charge along with another case against the same accused person.

Justice

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1614 by Cathy Jamieson on 18 August 2003, where information on contact orders by non-resident fathers can be obtained; why this information is not available centrally, and whether it has any plans to collect such information centrally in future.

Cathy Jamieson: Information on contact orders by non-resident fathers is located within the individual court records where the orders were sought. Easily accessible, in-depth national information on contact orders (and, more broadly, civil actions) is not available centrally. Only top-line information is collated and published annually in the form of Civil Judicial Statistics.

  However, the Executive is currently setting up a project to review the practical use of statistical data collected and published in the form of Civil Judicial Statistics. This is with a view to ensuring that what is collected is of practical use in shaping and informing the performance of the civil justice system in Scotland. This will include consideration of contact order data.

  In the meantime, the Executive is planning to conduct research to examine contact applications in a sample of Scottish courts. This is primarily to address the recommendations of the National Group to Address Violence Against Women. This research will focus upon fathers applying for contact orders where there have been allegations of domestic violence. It will generate a "snapshot" of information at the time of research. Although the research will generate evidence to help assess how best to monitor contact orders, plans to collect on-going national data centrally will fall primarily within the remit of the Civil Judicial Statistics Review.

Justice

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the child witness support guidance pack will be issued.

Hugh Henry: The first two documents in a series of guidance documents making up a Child Witness Support Guidance Pack are being issued today. They will cover "Interviewing Child Witnesses" and "Questioning Children in Court" and are the outcome of detailed consultation with a wide range of relevant interests.

  Copies of the documents have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 29349).

Local Government

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will conduct a review of local government boundaries and, if so, what the timescale for conducting such a review will be.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive indicated in the White Paper Renewing Local Democracy: The Next Steps that there would be no major review of local authority administrative boundaries in the foreseeable future. We continue to take that view, although views are being sought in the consultation on the Local Governance (Scotland) Bill as to whether the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland should be allowed to consider changes or merger proposals where these have been agreed by all the local authorities involved.

NHS Waiting Times

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average waiting time is for a first appointment with a paediatric occupational therapist, broken down by NHS board.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS Waiting Times

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will address any shortage of hospital beds in (a) Scotland and (b) the Greater Glasgow Health Board in the coming winter.

Malcolm Chisholm: It is very important to make sure that the additional pressures that winter brings to health and social care services do not disrupt care for patients and clients. The NHS and its planning partners are now preparing for this winter with plans developed upon the experience of previous winters. Health boards are only too well aware of the pressures that winter can bring and there is no complacency in their approach to preparations.

  Plans will include extra staff, more beds, increased critical care capacity, additional nursing home places, and continued co-ordinated action on delayed discharge. This is supported by significant extra investment with health spending set to increase on average by more than £630 million each year from 2003-04 to 2005-06 and £30 million allocated specifically to address delayed discharges from hospitals. This year Glasgow will receive an increase of 7.4% (£52.655 million) over their 2002-03 allocation with a further £5.543 million to address delayed discharges .

NHS Waiting Times

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many kidney transplants have been carried out in (a) Glasgow, (b) Edinburgh and (c) Aberdeen in each of the last three years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information is set out in the table below.

  

 
 2000
 2001
 2002


 Glasgow
 95
 88
 67


 Edinburgh
 66
 57
 66


 Aberdeen
 18
 11
 12



  Source: UK Transplant.

Pharmacists

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many practice pharmacists there are, broken down by NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on NHS pharmacists employed at 30 September each year is published on the web pages of the Information and Statistics Division of NHSScotland, in section A of Workforce Statistics at the following address:

  http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/isd/NHSiS_resource/Workforce/workforce_statistics.htm

  Some pharmacists are employed by NHS trusts not for dispensing medicine but to advise and support GP practices. The tables on these pages identify numbers of pharmacists employed by individual NHS trusts as well as by NHS board areas. However, they do not separately identify practice pharmacists within these overall numbers.

Public Sector Staff

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on recruiting staff for its departments, non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and executive agencies in each of the last six years.

Mr Andy Kerr: The specific information requested is not held centrally for all Scottish Executive agencies, associated departments or NDPBs and cannot be provided due to disproportionate cost. We can, however, provide the following information:

  The following figures represent the total annual expenditure on recruitment advertising incurred by the Scottish Executive core departments in the past three years. They also include expenditure on recruitment advertising placed by the Executive's recruitment unit on behalf of the following agencies: Scottish Public Pensions Agency; Food Standards Agency; Scottish Agricultural Science Agency, and General Registers Office. It should be noted, however, that this may not include the total expenditure undertaken by these agencies as they may have placed some advertisements independently. No expenditure was, of course, recorded by the Scottish Executive prior to coming into existence in 1999.

  

 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03


 £447,036
 £612,180
 £456,672

Public Sector Staff

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of jobs advertised for its departments, non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and executive agencies has been awarded to external candidates in each of the last six years.

Mr Andy Kerr: The specific information is not held centrally for all Scottish Executive agencies, associated departments or NDPBs and cannot be provided due to disproportionate cost. We can, however, provide the following information:

  The percentage of successful candidates for externally advertised recruitment competitions who were not existing Scottish Executive staff is given in the table. The figures relate to appointments to core Scottish Executive departments only.

  Percentage of External Applicants Appointed to Externally Advertised Posts in the Scottish Executive Core Departments

  

 Year
  


 1999-2000
 66%


 2000-01
 71%


 2001-02
 95%


 2002-03
 94%

Public Sector Staff

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of advertisements for jobs in its departments, non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and executive agencies has been subsequently withdrawn without the post being filled in each of the past six years.

Mr Andy Kerr: The specific information requested is not held centrally for all Scottish Executive agencies, associated departments or NDPBs and cannot be provided due to disproportionate cost. We can, however, provide the following information:

  There have been no advertisements for jobs in the Scottish Executive core departments that have subsequently been withdrawn without the post being filled within the last three years.

Residential Care

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what statistics it has on the incidence of staff long-term sickness in young people's residential units.

Euan Robson: The information requested is not held centrally.

Roads

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which organisation initiated the production of Galas and Events on the Trunk Road Network: Draft Guidance to Organisers .

Nicol Stephen: The draft guidance document was developed in partnership by Dumfries and Galloway Council, Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, the Scottish Executive and the trunk road operating company, Amey Highways, following concerns expressed by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary regarding the control of events in their area in 2002.

Roads

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reimburse Dumfries and Galloway Council, or the organisers of galas and events in Dumfries and Galloway, for the costs incurred in implementing Galas and Events on the Trunk Road Network: Draft Guidance to Organisers in respect of the closure of trunk roads.

Nicol Stephen: The draft guidance document, which is currently being used in the Dumfries and Galloway Council area, does not impose any additional costs on Dumfries and Galloway Council or event organisers. It seeks to set out the legal position regarding the closure of roads affected by events which has been in place since the introduction of the Road Traffic Regulation (Special Events) Act 1994.

Scottish Executive Advertising

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1857 by Andy Kerr on 5 September 2003, whether it will provide any information it has on the monthly pattern of expenditure on newspapers, radio, television and any other spending on advertising and marketing for 2002-03.

Mr Andy Kerr: Any such pattern is formed by the scheduling of campaigns. The actual recorded payments are, however, determined by the date of receipt and payment of invoices.

  The scheduling of a number of the Executive's campaigns are influenced by seasonal factors. For example, in 2002-03 the drink-drive, domestic abuse, fire safety, and alcohol misuse campaigns were scheduled for the winter period to coincide with proven higher incidences of related behaviour, accidents and risk.

  The flu campaign was scheduled from mid-September to November, which is the recognised "window" for immunisation of the elderly and at risk groups before the winter period of potential flu occurrence.

  Planned expenditure for the last quarter of 2002-03 was reduced by over 25% (written answer S1W-31578 on 7 February 2002 refers - all answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.), in line with the First Minister's decision of August 2002 to reduce advertising expenditure. This is at odds with Mr Monteith's claim, published in The Herald, Saturday September 6, that "Labour used government promotions to influence the Holyrood election in May [2003]".

Scottish Executive Advertising

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1857 by Andy Kerr on 5 September 2003, whether it will publish each campaign's media schedule or make the information available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is given in a set of Scottish Executive advertising media schedules for 2002-03, a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 29267).

Speed Limits

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reduce the speed limit on the A8 between Ratho Station and Gogarburn to 50 mph and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Nicol Stephen: Under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, responsibility for setting speed limits on roads in Scotland lies with the appropriate traffic authority, in this case the City of Edinburgh Council.

Vaccines

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it first became aware that the DTaP-Hib vaccination was less effective than the DTwP-Hib vaccination.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it first became aware that children who have received a DTaP-Hib vaccination would receive a further vaccination to provide protection against haemophilus influenza

Malcolm Chisholm: A review paper published in Biologicals in 1999, stated that "with the exception of five component vaccine, acellular vaccines are less efficacious than a good whole cell vaccine". A letter from the Chief Medical Officer in November 2001 referred to this review paper and its relevance to the Executive's preference for diphtheria, tetanus and wholecell pertussis (DTwP) vaccine over diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine, for primary immunisation. This letter can be accessed at http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/publications/CMO(2001)16.pdf .

  At its meeting on 1 November 2002, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) considered research evidence showing a gradual increase in the number of cases of Hib disease since 1999. As a result of these deliberations, the committee recommended that children between six months and four years of age should receive another dose of Hib vaccine. At this meeting, reasons for the possible increase in Hib infections were also discussed. An open minute of the meeting can be found at http://www.doh.gov.uk/jcvi/mins01nov02.htm.

  Following this recommendation, the Executive initiated a catch-up campaign to offer all children, aged between six months and four years at 1 April 2003 a booster dose of Hib vaccine.

Voluntary Sector

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is addressing capacity building in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) voluntary and representative sectors, both nationally and locally.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The Executive is providing funding to two national LGBT organisations, the Equality Network and LGBT Youth Scotland, to develop networks and structures for consultation with LGBT communities across Scotland. The Executive has also funded the production of a directory of LGBT organisations by Beyond Barriers and supported the Beyond Barriers conference on 13 to 14 September 2003, which focussed on issues facing LGBT communities in rural Scotland.

  We will continue to work with LGBT communities and with others in the public and voluntary sectors to examine how best to further develop capacity and build on the work which we are already doing.

Youth Organisations

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that the status of LGBT Youth Scotland, as the only lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth organisation, is recognised in future funding decisions.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Any application form submitted to the Executive for funding by LGBT Youth Scotland will be considered against all other applications. Funding streams are, however, limited and there is no guarantee that an application will result in an award of funding.

  The Scottish Executive is currently providing funding of £44,000 over three years from 2002-05 to LGBT Youth Scotland for a project to establish structures and mechanisms for consultation with LGBT young people.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Parliamentary Pension Scheme

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to the answer to question S2W-1865 by Mr Duncan McNeil on 28 August 2003, how many external organisations the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has made payments to under the direct debit scheme

Mr Duncan McNeil (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The total number of external organisations that the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has made payments to under the direct debit scheme is 24.

Parliamentary Pension Scheme

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to the answer to question S2W-1864 by Mr Duncan McNeil on 28 August 2003, on how many occasions the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has communicated specifically with MSPs' staff on matters directly affecting them.

Mr Duncan McNeil (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body is unable to quantify on how many occasions it has communicated specifically with MSPs' staff on matters directly affecting them.

Parliamentary Pension Scheme

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to the answer to S2W-1861 by Mr Duncan McNeil on 28 August 2003, what steps the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has taken to establish whether any MSPs' staff affected by the change in the payment system for personal pensions have incurred loss as a result.

Mr Duncan McNeil (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): As the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has complied with its obligations under the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority rules to pay over pension contributions by the 19th day of each month, it has not deemed it necessary to take steps to establish whether any MSPs' staff affected by the change in the payment system for personal pensions have incurred loss as a result. If any staff have incurred a loss they should pursue the matter with the relevant pension provider.

Parliamentary Pension Scheme

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to the answer to question S2W-1866 by Mr Duncan McNeil on 28 August 2003, how many staff were initially affected by the change in direct debit payments in respect of their personal pensions.

Mr Duncan McNeil (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The number of MSPs staff who were initially affected by the change was 151.

Parliamentary Staff

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Presiding Officer which of the benefits listed in the leaflet Statement of Employee Benefits , issued by the Parliament's personnel office, applies to MSPs' staff.

Mr Duncan McNeil (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): With the exception of the final salary pension scheme and access to the corporate good and hardship funds, all the benefits listed in the leaflet are either automatically available to MSPs staff as a minimum or can be implemented at the discretion of the employing member.